High school administrators suspended after senior prank runs afowl

SUNBURY, Pa. - A high school principal, vice principal, and senior advisor are all suspended from a district in Northumberland County because of a high school prank gone wrong.

Seniors at Shikellamy High School unleashed a dozen chickens inside the school - and it didn't turn out well.

The senior prank has been a tradition at the school for nearly 40 years but never before has a prank resulted in the suspension of three high school administrators.

Flipped desks, toilet papered hallways, and a dozen chickens were left in classrooms overnight and the superintendent says 16 seniors at the high school were responsible.

It was supposed to be part of a school prank which was supervised by the school's senior advisor, but the superintendent says it got out of hand.

“There was a lot of toilet paper, a lot of Vaseline on the handles of doors. There were chickens.”

“There was a lot of toilet paper, a lot of Vaseline on the handles of doors. There were chickens,” recalled Brian Snyder, a senior not involved in the prank.

Students WNEP spoke to have mixed emotions about the prank. It was supposed to be funny, but caused quite a mess.

“As a general rule, I think people are taking it too seriously, but I could see why people would be upset about the whole classroom destruction and the teacher, I could understand why he would be upset,” Snyder added.

The superintendent is now in charge of the high school.

The students responsible were tasked with cleaning the mess. People WNEP spoke to say although the pranking tradition goes back 40 years, this one went too far.

“We didn't have per se the pranks that they're pulling now. Ours were minor. We toilet-papered, but we did the outside of the building,” said Joanna Barton of Sunbury.

There will be a meeting next Monday to discuss when and if the principal, vice principal, and senior advisor will be allowed to come back. Meanwhile, those 16 students responsible for the mess are coming in two hours early every day until graduation to do extra cleaning around the school and community service.